Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $6.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $14.00.

GPRE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Green Plains from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stephens upgraded Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.89.

Green Plains Price Performance

Green Plains stock opened at $5.08 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $328.82 million, a PE ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 1.55. Green Plains has a 12 month low of $4.78 and a 12 month high of $24.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.36.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.64). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 11.88% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Green Plains by 433.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Green Plains in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Dauntless Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Green Plains by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,320 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Green Plains by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 5,450 shares during the period.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil.